Revealed: autism charity chief has links to anti-vaccine movement

A British charity that received hundreds of thousands of pounds in national lottery funding has links to the anti-vaccine movement and is being run by a campaigner who is likened to a Nazi war crime.

An investigation has found that Thinking Autism directed families to clinicians who were linked to the disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield.

The Charity Commission opened a case against the charity and was looking at evidence from the Observer. It comes seven years after a campaigner claims she first raised concerns about Thinking Autism with the regulator and National Lottery Community Fund.

By providing hope, emotional support and practical information, Thinking Autism claims to change lives for the better.

It is run by a vocal Covid sceptic who last year stood as a local election candidate for the Freedom Alliance.

Allman dismissed Omicron as a scariant in a post on Facebook.

She said that the world over was being deceived into having the greatest hoax in medical history. She wrote "How long will we have to wait before those who are complicit in tyranny are brought to justice for crimes against humanity?"

While those posts were from Allman's personal accounts, the campaigners expressed concerns for vulnerable families who were seeking help from Thinking Autism, which hosts conferences, online events and runs a private Facebook group.

The charity has been quiet on Covid issues, aside from announcing its opposition to vaccine passports. It shared a video in support of research by Andrew Wakefield, who was struck off the medical register for a discredited study claiming vaccines were linked to autism, but it has a history of promoting misinformation.

The website has testimonials for treatments for the condition, including homeopathy and CEASE therapy, which are pseudoscientific approaches that claim to remove toxic effects from outside sources.

Emma Dalmayne, who runs a charity that advocates for people with disabilities, said she first reported concerns about the charity to the Charity Commission in 2015.

She wondered why it was still operating seven years later.

The director of the Good Thinking Society said it was troubling to see people linked to the charity trying to undermine efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.

The charity said that members of it were free to hold their own views and that it supported the rights of people with disabilities to speak about their healthcare experiences. Hundreds of families thanked the charity for its support each year.

Allman said that her personal opinions on Covid-related issues did not affect her role as a director and Trustee of Thinking Autism.

The Charity Commission said it had opened a compliance case and was currently engaging with the trustees. There was no record of a complaint from 2015.

The National Lottery Community Fund, which allocates money raised by the lottery to community groups and charities, said its funding relationship with Thinking Autism will end in 2020. We take all concerns raised with us seriously, but we didn't say why the relationship continued after the complaint.